EW has confirmed Ripa will take her seat at the “Live” desk once again alongside husband Mark Consuelos when season 39 premieres.

Kelly Ripa’s Live With Kelly and Mark return date revealed amid host’s extended absence, recovery from surgery

EW has confirmed Ripa will take her seat at the “Live” desk once again alongside husband Mark Consuelos when season 39 premieres.

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Joey Nolfi is a senior writer at *. *Since 2016, his work at EW includes RuPaul’s Drag Race video interviews, Oscars predictions, and more.

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August 21, 2026 11:06 a.m. ET

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Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos on ‘Live With Kelly and Mark’. Credit:

LORENZO BEVILAQUA/Disney/Getty

- ** has confirmed Kelly Ripa’s return date after her extended absence from *Live With Kelly and Mark*.

- Ripa will once again take her seat next to Mark Consuelos when the talk show returns for season 39 with all-new live episodes.

- The 55-year-old previously missed several weeks of the talk show amid recovery from painful gum surgery.

Daytime TV’s reigning queen Kelly Ripa will return to her throne — and the *Live With Kelly and Mark* desk — after an extended absence amid recovery from painful gum surgery.

After Mark Consuelos announced in July his wife and cohost’s temporary hiatus from live episodes following a gum graft procedure, ** has confirmed that Ripa will return to *Live* for the season 39 premiere next month.

Ripa is set to return alongside the show for all-new live episodes beginning Tuesday, Sept. 8, after season 38 closed out with a batch of pre-taped episodes filmed and banked before the 55-year-old’s oral procedure.

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos on ‘Live With Kelly and Mark’.

DISNEY/Lorenzo Bevilaqua/Getty

After Consuelos, also 55, first revealed that Ripa’s procedure was an excruciatingly painful one, the talk show hostess released a *Let’s Talk Off Camera* podcast episode detailing elements of the procedure — and what caused her gum issues in the first place.

Ripa said in the podcast episode, which was recorded before her surgery, that she’s “not allowed to talk for 10 days” because the medical team needed to “take the skin off of the roof of your mouth and they put it [over your gums]” during the operation.

“I’m an over-brusher. I brush my teeth too much. It’s a good bad habit,” she said of the cause of the issue. “So, they’ve got to re-gum my gums!”

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Interview guest Michelle Buteau (who also stepped in for Ripa on an episode of *Live* amid her absence) praised Ripa for taking time off to prioritize her health, though Ripa clarified, “Before you praise me, I was supposed to do it five years ago. But, now, just so you know, the doctor was like, ‘Now, you don’t have the luxury of time!’”

Other guest cohosts who filled in for Ripa across a series of *Live* installments included Kevin Jonas, Mila Kunis, Carrie Coon, Pamela Adlon, and Scott Foley.

Ripa has hosted *Live* for 25 years, after first joining the late Regis Philbin on the show in a permanent capacity in 2001, following the departure of prior longtime cohost Kathie Lee Gifford.

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos on ‘Live With Kelly and Mark’.

LORENZO BEVILAQUA/Disney via Getty

Consuelos discussed Ripa’s recuperation on the air that included “a list of things that you’re not allowed to do,” with talking being No. 1 on the list.

“She has to eat soft food, can’t suck out of a straw, you can’t examine it, which means pulling down the lip. Last night, she was like, ‘Can you look!?’” Consuelos said in July.

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He told the audience that he’s convinced the pain is unbearable because his spouse “famously doesn’t feel pain,” and often doesn’t even ask for numbing medication when undergoing dental cleanings and procedures.

“But this one hurts” Consuelos admitted. “So, I know it’s bad.”

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